Fashionably Late: Tom Ford Enters the Sneaker Game

What finally persuaded Tom Ford, the Sultan of Swank himself, to join every other designer selling sneaks? Men started spending Fordian levels of cash on them, and he found a way to raise the high-end even higher. "I swore I would never make a sneaker until I found a way to make one that stayed true to the quality that people expect from our products," T.F. tells us. Each pair of Air Ford-ans requires more than a week to construct. The leather is taken from the most prized layer of the hide, and is hand-tanned to feel super supple. "It's the exact same process we use with our dress shoes," Ford says. Now it's only a matter of time until you're mowing the grass in your wingtips and saving your "dress" sneakers for special occasions.

High-tops, $990, and low-tops, $790, by Tom Ford. Available at tomford.com